New Boater question/1963 Merc Controls

[HighRidgeJoe]

I have a 1963 Starcraft Scout-14 ft-..Nice 1963 35 HP ( 350 ) Mercury----I was out on the water for the first time and I could not find neutral...it would start up and go..but I had to be out in the channel to start it...( controls are the old kind painted white not black )
Once out on the lake I tried to find neutral and reverse..My controls have the one shifter on the left ( inside ) and a black lever that can go up and down and sits flush with the control box....I tried to use the black lever and it made the motor push the boat forward...
Am I missing something?
I bought this 2 months ago and finally got it out on the water..Motor seemed to run ok...It did stall one time...I had the motor pushing us along slowly for about 5 mins..and it stalled out..or I hit the key...anyways..it took about 5 mins to get her going...it was acting like it was starved for fuel..kept priming and choking and she started up and ran fine...

Any suggestions??

also...with this being a smaller boat...How low should it be sitting in the water in the back.

Thanks..


joe t

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: New Boater question/1963 Merc Controls

If your merc is like my 1972 200, the shifting is very slippery, in fact mine would pop into gear as a tiller steer but putting controls on it stabilized it.

I think you need to know a little more about how the motor works. The small lever is the warm-up lever that gives it gas when in neutral. Never put it in gear with the lever up, or lift the lever when in gear.

The larger shifter is also the throttle and the further you push it, the more gas it gets. Sounds like yours might be "bogging" when you give it gas.
However, one problem I had was obvious to me and an expert mechanic that it was fuel path related: stalled on acceleration--turned out a frayed wire arced the block when you advanced from idle speed to running speed and the stator housing physically moved.

A 35 sounds way too big (heavy) for a 14' aluminum. Is there a rating plate on the boat? And if you get it running, it may be too fast unless you really know what you're doing.

Newer motors are set so they can't start unless they are in neutral. Yo maybe able to have one of those switches installed, and you should.

Pull the cowl off (on land) and observe how the shifter affects the gears and gas linkage, then you may be able to solve your problem.

 

[HighRidgeJoe]

Re: New Boater question/1963 Merc Controls

Thanks for the info...I should have stated but it is a 14 ft fiberglass...with cable and drum steering...

 

[HighRidgeJoe]

Re: New Boater question/1963 Merc Controls

Anyone else?

Thanks